현대 예술사조의 특징 중 하나는 예술에서 수용자의 적극적 참여를 유도하고 옹호한다는 점이다. 이저의 독자반응비평 이론은 이러한 수용자 중심적 관점을 부각한 수용미학적 견해로 기존의 창작자 혹은 텍스트 중심적 수용미학 이론과 차별되는 전환적인 견해이다. 발레 <심청>은 한국창작 발레이면서도 세계적으로 소비되고 향유되고 있는 문화상품이다. 작품 속에 동서양의 문화가 공존하고 있어 수용자의 수용방식에 따라 해석과 의미부여가 다양하게 표현 가능한 작품이다. 이에 수용자 중심적 수용미학적 견해인 이저의 독자반응비평 이론에 발레 <심청>을 접목시켜 분석하는 작업은 의미 있다고 사료되어, 본 연구에서는 무용텍스트로서의 <심청>과 이저의 독자반응비평 이론을 함께 고찰해 보았다.
먼저 독자반응비평 이론에서 텍스트가 수용자의 수용행위를 통해 구체화 되어 작품이 되는 과정을 살펴보면 무용텍스트는 생산자인 대본가, 안무가, 연출가에 의해 창작되어 무대에서 무용수의 움직임을 통해 현장에서 전달되는 특징이 있다. 수용자는 안무가가 전달하려는 혹은 의미부여가 가능한 암시된 의도 등을 구체화시키는 능동적인 역할을 하는데 이것이 생산자-텍스트-수용자간 공동유희의 과정에 해당한다. 유희과정을 거친 텍스트는 작품이 된다.
수용미학적 구조에 관한 이저의 이론을 한국창작 발레 <심청>에 적용해보면 심청은 무용텍스트에 해당하고 창작자(안무가, 대본가, 연출가)는 생산자에, 무용수는 공연의 협력자이자 또 다른 수용자, 공연을 관람하는 관객과 평론가는 수용자에 해당한다. 이들은 상호간 자유로운 의사소통으로 텍스트를 구체화시키고 그 결과 <심청>은 작품이 된다. 한편 텍스트가 구체화된 작품은 다시 다음 생산자의 또 다른 텍스트창작에 영향을 주어 새로운 수용텍스트를 만드는 순환적 의사소통의 구조를 갖는다. 발레<심청> 역시 이러한 과정을 여러 차례 겪었고 그 결과 창작 이후로 성공적인 개작이 현재까지 이어지고 있다. 하나의 텍스트가 작품으로 구체화 된 후 소멸하지 않고 구체화 과정을 반복하여 끝없이 수정 보완되어 공연무대에 올려지고 있는 좋은 예가 된 것이다.
무용텍스트로서 발레 <심청>이 가지는 가치를 창조적, 심미적, 교육적, 문화적 가치의 네 가지로 나누어 볼 수 있다. 특히 문화적 가치에 있어서 주목할 사실은 발레의 종주국인 프랑스 ‘팔레 데 콩그레 드 파리(Palais des Congres de Paris)’에 초청되어(2012) 성황리에 공연을 마치는 등 한국발레의 해외 성공 사례가 되고 있다는 점이다. 초연 이후 현재까지 끊임없이 수정 보완하는 열정, 관객의 변함없는 호응은 발레 <심청>을 더욱 완성도 높은 작품으로 만들어 주고 있다.
현대의 예술 패러다임은 20C 초반 이래로 다양하게 나타나고 있다. 실증주의, 실존주의, 신비평주의 등을 거쳐 구조주의, 모더니즘, 해체주의, 포스트모더니즘, 탈해체주의 등 여러 사조들이 뒤얽혀 존재하고 있고 그에 따라 예술작품에 대한 새로운 수요도 다양하게 증가하고 있다. 공연환경은 급변하고 있고 관객의 기대나 호응 역시 다양하게 변하고 있으며 평론가들의 비평도 이에 따라 달라지고 있다. 발레 <심청>이 현재와 같은 호평 속에서 공연을 계속 이어가고 생명력을 가진 작품으로 남기 위해서는 급변하는 예술사조와 공연환경, 공연에 대해 달라지는 기대를 앞으로 어떻게 수용하여 표현하는지가 남은 과제라 할 것이다. 앞으로도 동서양문화의 훌륭한 조화의 상징적인 작품으로 명성을 이어가기를 기대한다.
One of the special features of modern art trends is the point that the aggressive participation by the consumers is induced and supported in art. As the acceptance aesthetics view that carved in relief such a consumer-centered viewpoint, the theory of reader response criticism of Iser is a converted view that is differentiated from the preexistent creator- or text-centered acceptance aesthetics theory. The ballet ‘Shimcheong’ is a cultural product that has been consumed and enjoyed in the world while being a Korean creative ballet at the same time, too. Because the cultures of the East and the West coexist within the work of art, it is a work of art that can diversely express the interpretations and the meaning givings according to the acceptance method of the consumer. As such, because it had been thought that the work of analyzing by grafting the ballet ‘Shimcheong’ onto the theory of reader response criticism of Iser, which is a consumer-centered acceptance aesthetics view, is meaningful, in this research, ‘Shimcheong’, as a dance text, and the theory of reader response criticism of Iser had been considered together.
Firstly, if I take a look at the process in which the text becomes the work of art after being concretized through the act of acceptance of the consumer in the theory of reader response criticism, the dance text has the special feature of being delivered at the site through the movements of the dancers on the stage after being created by the script writer, the choreographer, and the director, who are the producers. It has a difference from the texts in the other genres with regard to the point that the empathy that is felt by the consumer while viewing the performance and the things that were stored with the memories and the recollections after viewing the performance are made into an acceptance text. In concretizing a dance text that is delivered mainly with the visual images, the aggressive interaction between the producer and the consumer with the text as the medium is important. The consumer plays the proactive role of freely finding and concretizing, by himself or herself, the intention that is intended to be delivered by the choreographer, the suggested intention that can give a meaning although it was not clearly stated, or the others of the like. This pertains to the process of the joint play between the producer, the text, and the consumer. A text that had gone through the process of the play becomes a work of art. The concept of ‘text’ of Iser is a fictional text. And, due to the fictionality, the spaces of uncertainty, blank, etc. get created. As a phenomenological concept, while being inherent in the text, the consumer is an existence who gets regulated by the text. The consumer plays the role of filling the blank in the fictional text through the process of acceptance within his or her awareness. And, at this time, the uncertainty of the text, too, gets around to having a clear and definite meaning. As a result of the communication with the producer having taken place by being repeated through the proactive participation by the consumer, the text becomes a work of art after going through the process of acceptance.
If I try applying the theory of Iser regarding the acceptance aesthetics structure to the Korean creative ballet ‘Shimcheong’, Shimcheong pertains to a dance text, the creators (The choreographer, the script writer, and the director) pertain to the producers, the dancers pertain to the cooperators of the performance and the yet other consumers, and the audience and the critics viewing the performance pertain to the consumers. They concretize the text through the free, mutual communication, and, as a result, ‘Shimcheong’ becomes a work of art. Meanwhile, by giving an influence to yet another text creation by the next producer again, the work of art of which the text had been concretized gets around to having the structure of circular communication that makes a new acceptance text. The ballet ‘Shimcheong’ had experienced such a process many times. And, as a result, ever since the creation, the successful remakes have been continuing until the present. It had become a good example in which, after having been concretized as a work of art, without becoming extinct, by repeating the concretization process, by being revised and supplemented endlessly, one text has been put up on the performance stage.
The values that are possessed by the ballet ‘Shimcheong’, as a dance text, can be divided into four kinds. By changing the genre of the literature text, which is a traditional novel, into the dance text, it had been made so that the performance is possible. And, by not damaging the form and the choreography of the ballet while saving the Korean sentiment, too, the possession of the universality and the accessibility as a public art pertains to the creative value that is possessed by ‘himcheong’. All of the main organizations of the classical ballet, including the grand pas de deux and the divertissement, which are the typical ballet performances that are worthy of watching, the pas d'action, which induces the following of the development of the drama, etc., are inside. And each part gets delivered while having the life force. And the point that the level of completion as a ballet performance had been shown while saving the Korean things, including the clothes, the music, the choreography, etc., just the way they had been, can be evaluated as an aesthetic value. ‘himcheong’ has been delivering the humanity of ‘ilial duty’ through a drama-consistent message. Here, the traditional, moral customs, too, of Korea, in which the ordinary people coexist and share the emotions with the neighbors, have been expressed in a natural way. Although filial duty is a moral canon that is emphasized in the Orient, despite being somewhat of a children's story and despite the somewhat exaggerated setup, while the audiences in the diverse cultural spheres have been watching the performance, the fact that the humanity- including filial duty, altruism, etc.- had been sympathized with means that 'Shimcheong' had delivered an educational value, too. Regarding 'Shimcheong', which has been performed for a long time in over 26 countries of the world for over 30 years ever since the premiere in 1986, the following points have been continuously receiving the favorable comments not only in Korea, but, also, at many places in the world: The point that it had a traditional story in Korea as the subject matter; The point that there had been a lot of participation by foreigners in the creation process; The point that a foreign dancer had been in charge of, and had acted for, a Korean character; The point that the traditional dance and the ballet had achieved a harmony; The point that the Korean culture and tradition had been represented well through the clothes, the music, the background, etc.; And the others of the like. As an excellent, intangible asset of the Korean ballet circle, the cultural value has been emitted. It has been an overseas, successful case example of Korean ballet, including successfully finishing a performance after being invited (2012) to Palais des Congres de Paris in France, which is the suzerain of ballet, and the others of the like. The passion of unceasingly revising and supplementing and the unchanging positive response of the audience ever since the premiere until the present have been making the ballet 'Shimcheong' into a work of art that has an even higher level of completion.
The art paradigm of modernity has been appearing diversely ever since the early phase of the 20th century. By going through positivism, existentialism, new criticism, etc., the many thought trends, including structuralism, modernism, deconstruction, postmodernism, deconstructionism, etc. have been existing by being entangled. And, according to this, the new demand, too, regarding the works of art has been increasing diversely. The performance environment has been changing rapidly. And the expectation and the positive response of the audience have been changing diversely, too. And the criticisms, too, of the critics have been becoming different according to this. In order for the ballet 'Shimcheong' to continue the performance continuously with the favorable reviews like the present and remain as a work of art that has the life force, it can be said that how to accept and express the rapidly changing artistic thought trends and performance environments and the expectation that becomes different regarding the performance in the future is the remaining task. I have the high expectation that it will continue the fame as a symbolic work of art with the excellent harmony of the cultures of the East and the West in the future, too.
